Energy Going up in Smoke Through the Stack

Last time we introduced the phenomenon of uncontrollable factors as they exist within coal fired power plants. They inevitably result in lost energy in a number of ways, the most obvious of which is probably the smokestack, where lost energy is seen literally going up in smoke through the stack.

Energy Going up in Smoke Through the Stack

When coal is introduced into a coal fired power plant’s boiler, it’s combined with air, ignited, and begins to burn. This burning process releases some useful heat energy to fuel our power grids, but the rest goes up in smoke through the stack, releasing the products of the combustion process, including nitrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water vapor into the atmosphere.

Next time we’ll discuss friction, another factor which results in power plant energy loss.